Adam Orford
(MPP/MA-ERG ’18)

Adam returned to graduate school after a career as an attorney specializing in environmental, energy, and natural resources litigation. He came to Berkeley to focus on what the law can be, and should be. GSPP's policy analysis curriculum is helping him build the analytical toolkit needed to diagnose and resolve impediments to the implementation of rational solutions to environmental and natural resource conflicts.

Adam chose GSPP because, from drought, to climate change, to renewable energy, to agriculture, to environmental justice, California is a working laboratory for many of the most urgent and cross-cutting natural resource policy challenges; UC Berkeley, one of the world's great public universities, is training the next generation of leaders in government, public interest advocacy, business, and academia; the Bay Area presents countless opportunities to get involved in a real-world context; and GSPP is in the center of it all. The school has strong connections to the rest of the University and a deep network of alumni around the world. But most importantly, it has a passionate and inspiring student body full of people interested in making a difference in the world. It has been an energizing place to work and learn.

Adam is a concurrent degree candidate with the Energy and Resources Group (ERG). In addition to his studies, he has spent the last year working at the California Public Utilities Commission, focusing on electric vehicle-grid integration, alternative fueled vehicles policy, and energy research program management. He received his B.A. from Ari­zona State Uni­versity, and his J.D. from Colum­bia Uni­ver­sity School of Law, where he was the Editor-in-Chief of the Colum­bia Jour­nal of Envi­ron­men­tal Law.